Hello London trippers!

The trip and the hotel are confirmed. So we can really start thinking about the Klassenfahrt to London. First some technical and useful general advice:

- please try to be on time - always; especially before bus departures from or to Germany or GB respectively (both at Sennestadt - Allfrisch, Wednesday, May 8, 9.15 p.m. and in London, Saturday, May 11 4, ~10.30 p. m.); experience shows that it has been useful to be at the departure bus stops 30 minutes earlier than demanded by the schedules; try to reserve as many seats as possible in one area of the buses for the whole group; always keep an eye on the other group members; sleep as much as possible overnight; watch out for your valuables and baggages in the buses; take as little baggage to London as possible; forget expensive electronics, jewellery or clothes; they can be stolen anywhere and any time.

- you are booked in low-budget, multi-bed rooms(up to 12) in a central hotel; think about who you want to share your room with; do not expect high class accomodation; expect the German Youth Hostel standards; you will have a simple but filling hotel breakfast (normally toast, marmalade, maybe some form of bacon and eggs); German habitual food or specialities should be taken to London. Always eat as much in the morning as possible in order to be fit for the day. Take medicine (bandages, Aspirin etc.) with you; if you plan to hang out or party all night, think about your physical fitness; it irritates to have to be taken into a London Hospital by an ambulance after a collapse or breakdown!

- London is one of the biggest cities of the world crowded by all kinds of people, regular or irregular; thinking about one’s security is a must; that basically means

- to watch out for pickpockets - anywhere and any time, especially in buses and tube trains

- to give the impression to know where you want to go, in order to avoid getting busted

- to plan your trips; always plan breaks, because London can literally take your breath away; it is fast and exhausting; enjoy its parks or churches or pubs where you can, always have a rest if the city blues hits you after a long Tequila sunrise

- to take buses and taxis after 11 p.m. , especially if you are female; if you try to get back from the West End after midnight, you might be stuck with the night bus, because London cabbies have decided to stay out of the West End for a while at that time, because of touts who you can also use ; make a deal for the price for your trip first.

- London weather can be cold, windy and wet; take a warm, waterproof jacket and pullover together with an umbrella; take comfortable walking shoes, because London concrete can be fairly steely.

- the travelcard is the most economical way to get around in London; a one-day travelcard for zones one and two should cost you about 3.50 pounds for one day; you can use them on all buses and tubes or BR trains, except for night buses; you can buy them at any tube station.

- take towels with you and mirrors with you; GB has a special voltage and special plugs (important for hairstyling or -drying ); the telephone code to Germany is 0049 plus city code without the “O”; the telephone code into central London is 0044171 plus connection code or 0044170 for the areas more in the outskirts and plus connection code; we will have to see where our hotel is.

- watch out for tourist traps anywhere, but especially between Piccadilly and Covent Garden; you can always find MacDonald’s or Burger King or Pizza Hut or Chinese, Mexican or Pakistan/Indian food for good value near you in the centre of London; just think a little bit; canned beer can be had in almost any pub for low prices; forget alcohol in London restaurants around noon time; it is normally not being served .

- If you eat out in a big group, make sure that everybody takes down exactly what he has to pay and has ordered; there normally is no single billing in London restaurants which are usually packed with customers on Friday or Saturday nights; London waitors can be quite rude if they do not get their full money or if they see a chance to take advantage of stupid tourists; so everybody should exactly have change ready when he has to pay. It can be quite irritating for the feeling of the whole group if a restaurant bill cannot be fully paid and someone has to run behind money.

- the trip schedule is a suggestion; we should, however, try to spend Friday together, either in museums or churches or shops, if the weather is bad, or walking through Hyde Park, Whitehall and Greenwich, if the weather is good; musts are Portobello Road Market in Nottinghill (Saturday morning), New Caledonian Market on Friday morning, Camden Lock Market on Saturday morning, Covent Garden, Whitehall, Greenwich, Saint Paul’s (galleries and dome, fee) and Westminster Abbey (chapels; fee); I personally can do without the Tower, because it is normally overcrowded by Japanese, German and American tourists and is very expensive; also Madame Tussaud’s charges you with 10 pounds to my knowledge ; I prefer the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery and the British Museum as alternatives to those sights; those three can be entered for free.

- any fresh information on nightclubbing, partying etc. should be looked up in Time Out, which comes out every Thursday and can be had at any newsstand. If you want to go to a show, (musical, theatre etc.) go to Leicester Square at noon; there you can buy half-priced tickets after a short time of queuing; a good Internet site with loads of high quality infos and links about London is the site of the commonest London newspaper coming out anywhere in London at 6 p.m. under the URL of the Evening Standard; last but not least, we should try to meet at 9.30 every morning, to swap stories, dates and experiences at or before breakfast.

Programm der Studienfahrt nach London vom 8. 5. 2002, 21.15 bis 12. 5. 2002 , 10.30 p.m. ab/bis Allfrisch - Bielefeld/Sennestadt - London /Elephant+Castle, Paddington-station

Mi, 8. 5. 02: Abfahrt 21.15 von Allfrisch Bielefeld Sennestadt (Zentrum) ; vorher Unterricht bis 20.00 Uhr - Belgien 2 a.m. - Fähre Calais-Dover-London 4 a.m. -

Do, 9.6. 00: 8.00 Ankunft in London - circa 11.30 Verlassen des Busses an der Tubestation Elephant and Castle; U-Bahn Fahrt nach Covent Garden (erster Eindruck von London); Spaziergang zum Trafalgar Square/Leicester Square; Frühstück/lunch

14. 00 Fahrt zum Paddington Station; Wiederbesteigen des Busses; Hotelbezug und Zimmerverteilung (Flexibilität und Teamgeist gefordert) 16.30 Fahrt zum Green Park; Bummel übere Piccadilly bis Picadilly Circus; Abendessen am Leicester Square; Abend zur freien Verfügung; Vorschlag: Ausklang im Pub “Pride of Paddington” (Nähe Paddington Station tube).

Fr, 10. 5. 2002: 9.30 Fahrt/Wanderung durch Hyde Park, Hyde Park Corner; Buckingham Palace (Changing of the Guards 11.30) - Whitehall - Westminster Abbey - Westminster Pier - Fahrt nach Greenwich - Royal College - Painted Hall - Chapel - Park - Observatorium - Pubbesuch an der Themse - Rückfahrt mit DLR and tube; Abends Musicalbesuch “My Fair Lady” (Rasiersitz, 7.50 Pfund), danach Westendbummel (Bars, Clubs; dresscode: smart) Rückfahrt zum Hotel per tout Taxi von Nordostecke Leicester Square (3 Personen pro Taxi, verhandeln; Fahrtpreis 12-14 Pfund)

Sa, 11.5.02: morgens Auschecken 9.30 Uhr; Gepäckabgabe Paddington Station, Gepäckaufbewahrung; Fahrt nach NottingHill zum Portobello Street Market; Mittagessen im Costa’s Grill; Fahrt nach Kew Gardens; 19.30 Konzertbesuch St-Martin-in-the-Fields (6 Pfund);Treffpunkt am Bus an der Paddington Station 22.00 Uhr; 22.30 Uhr Abfahrt des Busses -Ankunft in Bi-Sennestadt circa 10.00 Uhr am 12. 5. 02

Möge die Übung gelingen!

Dieter Seidensticker